Shadow Hearts II: The Princess And The Samurai
by Tiger5913
Summary: (Currently uploaded - Part Two: Forest Of Wind) A series of (not-so-short) stories based on scenes from the Shadow Hearts II game that feature Princess Anastasia and Kurando. [Kurando x Anastasia]
1. Otherworld

10/15/04

Disclaimer: The characters in this fic, such as Kurando, Anastasia, etc. don't belong to me; they are property of Midway, so don't sue! 0

Dedications: God, my friends, my cousins, my readers, Midway for gracing this magnificent RPG with a sequel, despite the ending they chose to go off of and finally, sudden inspiration for making me write this during periods of boredom.

**Shadow Hearts II: The Princess And The Samurai**

**Part One: Otherworld**

**By Tiger5913**

"Oh… he's waking up!"

A second groan of discomfort noised from the young man lying on the ground, and the girl cradling his head in her hands elicited a small sigh of relief at the sure sign of recovery, previous fears slightly eased. When his eyelids slowly slid up to reveal twin dazed red irises, he blinked several times before he was able to focus on her face, and softly mumbled her name when he witnessed the worry that marred her cute features. But as soon as his eyes met hers, his compassionate ally beamed a bright, wide smile at him, and then turned to their other companions with a nod, indicating his positive condition. Words of concern drifted by his ears as the seventeen-year-old slowly arose to his feet with the help of his self-appointed 'caretaker' right next to him, generously offering her assistance.

"Hey, Kurando, you all right?" The unspoken leader of the small group asked for everyone as he knelt down near the younger fusionist. "What happened?"

After he made sure his stance was well-balanced and steady, Kurando Inugami gingerly brought a hand to his forehead and glanced around the strange misty setting before calmly replying, "I'm… not sure, Yuri. All I remember is that everything got dark all of a sudden… W-wait, Master! Princess! Where are they?!" His gaze scanned the area frantically at the outcry.

"We haven't seen them anywhere," one of his other allies informed him with a helpless shrug, and then the slender fortune-teller shivered slightly before making her usual pessimistic forecast, "But we're definitely not in our world anymore…"

"Well, there's no use standing here wondering about it!" Yuri Hyuga slammed one fist into the opposite palm in emphasis of toughness as he addressed his friends, "Let's go take a look around; maybe we can find out how to get the hell outta this weird place."

"Yuri, let Kurando rest for a while! I mean… he just got beaten up…!" The teenage girl in their group protested, clinging onto the samurai's arm with an adorable pout on her face.

"Hey, I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but we really don't have time to waste, Anastasia," the authoritative brunette told her firmly, albeit with a slight edge of apology in his tone.

The young man being talked about shook his head and dismissed the issue. "It's all right; I don't want to be a bother. I can stay here while you guys are exploring the area. I'll catch up when I feel a little better."

"That's nice of you to offer, but…" the red-haired German woman started to say hesitantly, "…are you sure you'll be okay by yourself? It sounds like a bad idea… What if the enemy that's controlling all this shows up and attacks you when you're alone?"

Her companions nodded in agreement, and he opened his mouth to answer, but before any words could escape him, Princess Anastasia Romanov quickly piped up with her own solution, "I'll stay here with him!"

"Huh?" came the instant chorus from the other party members, and even Kurando quirked a brow of astonishment at such a selfless suggestion.

"I'll stay here with Kurando and make sure he's okay!" She assured them with a convincing giggle, but she did grip her mystical weapon a little tighter around the base, while inwardly she recalled what Crests she currently had on hand. "If any bad creeps show up, they'll get a taste of my magic spells!"

Everyone else looked at each other for a bit, silently exchanging messages with their eyes as the younger fusionist recovered and found his voice; "Lady Anastasia, you mustn't put yourself in danger-"

"Oh no, i-it's nothing, really!" the Russian princess grinned with unusual confidence, and then turned a fierce glare to her friends that threatened she would kick anybody who opposed her idea.

"…Yeah, all right," Yuri conceded finally with a slight shrug; almost their entire group knew of her little crush on Kurando, and if they tried to stop her pursuit of him… well, as the saying went, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. "And I know you have a few of your own, but since you'll be taking care of Kurando and all, keep these with you, okay?" He stood up and reached back into the pouch hanging over his rear end to take out a couple of small bags that were used to keep restorative herbs inside, and handed them to Anastasia, who received the items with unspoken relief.

"Thanks, Yuri!" She expressed her gratitude enthusiastically while tucking the curative plants into the heart-shaped pockets of her dark blue coat.

"No problem," he replied casually, and then after wearily glancing at the thickening mist surrounding their small group, he turned to his other allies and declared decisively, "Well, come on, guys. Let's go find out what the hell's going on here."

"Okay!" They consented in unison, and one-by-one with the husky vampire wrestler in the lead, they started heading down the pathway into the unknown, keeping close to their friends in case an enemy appeared out of nowhere.

Yuri was the last to leave, but before he followed the rest of the brave adventurers, he cast a curious gaze in the direction of the young samurai, and inwardly wondered if he should speak out his thoughts.

"What's wrong, Yuri?" The fourteen-year-old protector spoke up after a long moment of silence.

"So… you can fuse too, eh?" He finally decided to remark with a grin of approval, though there was a sliver of surprise lingering in his eyes.

Kurando gave him a slight nod and quietly admitted, "Yes. I've had that ability for as long as I can remember. I'm… sorry that I didn't tell the rest of you before, but…"

"Nah, we don't mind; you have your reasons. It's just good to know that I'm not the only one with the power of fusion, that's all," Yuri grinned at the knowledge even as a question of uncanny coincidence nagged him in the back of his mind, but this wasn't the appropriate time to do further investigation. "Well, I should go catch up to the others before they get worried. Be careful, you two!"

"You'd better not take too long!" was the sassy young teenager's farewell call.

With a wave of good-bye to the teenage duo, he returned his attention to the main task at hand, and soon too disappeared into the overwhelming mystic smoke of the enigmatic setting. Left at the large circular stone structure with the strange seal in the middle, the two glanced around for a bit, unsure of what to do to pass the time, occasionally exchanging a nervous smile here and there. Kurando wanted to ask why she would volunteer to care for him so avidly when he was still quite a stranger to her and her friends, but his gentlemanly nature prevented him from doing so. He didn't want to seem rude or ungrateful for her help, after all; the awkward silence was finally shattered when Anastasia's concerned kicked in, and she started expressing worry over his condition.

"Oh, Kurando, you must still be tired from that fight! Here, why don't you sit down?" She looked about the small place for an upshot piece of rock that could serve as a seat, but when she found none, thought of an idea to use her thick coat as a blanket, and turned away from her companion. With her back facing him, she unfastened the thick, single round button holding her coat closed and started to shrug her arms out of the holes, all the while inwardly hoping that word of this action would never leave the privacy of her and the samurai. For a girl her age and status to do such a thing would be deemed indecent and shameful by the other members of her fellow aristocracy, and she certainly didn't want to bring rumors of promiscuity to her family. Thankfully for her, in the current situation, the only other person around was Kurando, and he didn't seem to be the snooty type that liked to gossip; besides, she was wearing two additional thinner outfits underneath.

But the young princess hadn't gotten much further before the older teenager walked up behind her and peered over her head, curious about what she was doing, and when he found out, immediately protested, "Lady Anastasia! Please, leave your coat on; I'll be fine sitting on the ground."

After recovering from her surprise that he had discovered her task, she quickly whirled around and fired back with her hands on her hips, "I'm just trying to help! The ground's really hard and dirty!"

"You've already been generous enough," Kurando assured her in his usual calm, but undoubtedly sincere tone as he laid a hand on her shoulder for a moment and nodded at her solemnly before removing his presence. "Thank you for all your help. Let me provide a seat for you if you're worried about the condition of the ground…"

She almost swooned at the brief contact of his hand resting on her shoulder, but shook herself out of the momentary daze when he retracted his arm and turned his front side away from her view. The curious girl quickly re-buttoned her coat before she opened her mouth and started to ask him what _he_ was doing now, but the question never came because she soon got her answer. With a noiseless, yet firm tug, the tail end of his top was pulled up from his waistline, and after untying numerous knots securing many areas, he began to slide it off his shoulders, which made Anastasia blush bright red. She would have been embarrassed with the shedding of the upper portion of his traditional samurai robes if he wasn't also wearing a thin white undershirt, but his chivalrous act in itself still threatened to send her into a fit of girlish giggles.

As Kurando bent down to lay the article of clothing upon the stone-hard ground, she immediately snapped back to her senses and protested, "Oh, don't do that! You'll be cold now!"

To her surprise, he laughed softly, and pivoted to face her when he was done spreading his robe top flat out to make enough room for both of them to sit on, and commented with a partial smile, "He he, I feel kind of flattered that you worry about me so much…"

He was the only person in their group that didn't know that she crushed on him, so she couldn't exactly give him that fairly-obvious reason. "Um… well… I just want to make sure you'll heal up and be okay! We're probably going to face a lot more dangerous monsters in the future, so we all need to be in top shape!"

"Then you should also take care of yourself, right?" The dark-haired warrior stated matter-of-factly, and then after he took a seat, reached up and gently tugged on her arm. "Have a seat, Lady Anastasia. You need time to recover as well."

"O-okay!" She tried not to seem too eager about sitting so closely and right next to the object of her affections, and merely smoothed out the back of her coat before lowering her bottom to the blanket-like cover. Inwardly, she squealed in excitement at the opportunity, but Kurando was pretty mature and probably wouldn't appreciate such a childish gesture, so she carefully kept that reaction tucked away inside. She could always babble about it later to her favorite companions anyway, either the intelligent white-furred wolf, or the tall, hulking blond vampire that was rather protective of her. For now, the young princess just sighed dreamily, simply happy with taking care of, and getting the chance to spend some alone time with the newest addition to their group of allies.

"Hey, Kurando…" she started to say with slight pink dotting her cheeks.

He turned his head to look at her. "Yes?"

"We… we didn't hurt you too badly, did we?"

"No," he assured her quietly with a negative shake. "My fusion form is fairly stronger than my normal human body, and can endure more attacks. The only thing I have to recover is the energy I used in order to fuse in the first place."

"Oh… I get it," Anastasia replied demurely, nodding slightly as she inwardly recalled the long periods of recovery time that their group would occasionally have to take before their leader was well enough to continue their journey. It had always taken place after a particularly drawn-out battle with a fierce opponent, and it seemed that the more powerful of a monster he fused with, the more fatigued he felt afterwards. Everyone certainly was surprised to find out that the mysterious young samurai could fuse, but despite his hostile intentions during the fight, Yuri had instructed the others not to use too much force. Of course, the princess agreed wholeheartedly with that command, and obeyed it willingly, but she had to admit there were a couple of instances when she wondered if Kurando would _really_ harm her with that hovering form.

"Does it… bother you?" The seventeen-year-old spoke up just then when she fell silent with her thoughts.

"Huh?" She blinked several times in slight bewilderment, and eagerly averted her attention to her companion after she had regained her focus. "Does what bother me?"

"My… fusion ability," he glanced off to the side as he admitted so, not wanting her to see the concern and insecurity in his crimson dark eyes.

"Oh, that? No way!" Anastasia quickly shook her head, and a small frown creased her brows when she saw him looking away. "Yuri has it too, and none of us have a problem with it! Don't worry, we like you just the way you are!"

She immediately blushed after saying the last part, but Kurando turned back toward her with a slight smile that indicated his gratitude. "Thank you for the assurance, Lady Anastasia. There aren't… there aren't very many people in this world that would accept someone with my… strange ability. I don't use my fusion form very often because I never know if I'll run across one of those people. It can stir up quite a bit of trouble when revealed to the wrong person…"

There was much sympathy on her face when he told her of the prejudice, but she instantly thought of his close companions and wondered, "Do Mr. Kawashima and Yoshiko know?"

"Yes, they both do," he informed her with a nod, then continued further, "my master is a friend of my family. My mother told me that she and her brother, my uncle, both knew Master Kawashima when they were younger."

"Oh, your mom and your uncle know him too? Where do they live? You didn't tell us you had blood relatives around; we thought Mr. Kawashima and Yoshiko were your only family," when the princess realized what she was instigating, she quickly covered her mouth with a fierce blush.

"Well, the question never came up…" Kurando pointed out simply, but he didn't seem to notice, or mind that she had implied she thought he was an orphan; he himself knew full well that he had been quite enigmatic since the beginning. "But if you'd really like to know about me, I wouldn't mind telling you."

"Yeah, yeah!" She encouraged him enthusiastically, clapping her hands together in a show of overeager anticipation. "Please, go ahead!"

"All right then," he nodded, and then his eyes wandered off to the side before he started to speak, "Firstly, my mother lives in the Inugami Village today. I was born and raised there, but upon her insistence, I left when I was in my early teens to seek out Master Kawashima in hopes of learning from him. I'm not sure if even Yuri can tell, but I don't always have full control over my fusion ability… Aside from practicing swordplay, Master Kawashima has also been teaching me how to calm myself down and achieve peace of mind, which he said would help subdue the demonic influence of the fusion form."

"Is it hard to control?" she wondered innocently, not having the chance to be placed in such a situation. "I haven't seen Yuri have trouble with any of his demon forms yet… but he does look like he's in a lot of pain right before he fuses."

"I've just met all of you recently so I don't know any of you too well yet, but from what I've witnessed in our allied battles so far, Yuri seems a lot more experienced in fusing than I am," the samurai admitted humbly, not an ounce of shame in his earnest tone. "Perhaps if I continue traveling with the rest of you and gain more experience in fighting, I can learn to control my powers sooner."

"I'm sure you will! And we'll help you any way we can, so feel free to ask!" Anastasia beamed proudly as she gave the firm proclamation.

"As for my uncle…" his tone lowered, Kurando paused for a moment in respect prior to mentioning the deceased. "My uncle passed away about fifteen years ago. I'm afraid I can't tell you very much about him because I myself only met him once as an infant, a few months after I was born, so I never had the opportunity to get to know him…"

"I-I'm sorry!" The abashed girl immediately apologized for touching upon a sensitive subject, and a worried frown marred her brows. "I… I didn't mean to bring up something so sad…"

"Don't worry, Lady Anastasia," he raised his hand to stop her. "Honestly, I'm rather curious about him myself, but my mother has always been strangely elusive whenever I ask questions… But she did promise me that she would tell me one day, when she felt that I was ready to hear everything. I'll just keep on living my life on my usual basis until then."

"Maybe she's waiting until you can control your fusion power?"

"Maybe. We'll have to see, I suppose," he shrugged a bit as he replied, and then turned to face his companion again. "Anyway, what about you, Lady Anastasia? Would you mind if I asked where you're from? Your clothes look rather different from what most people wear around here… and my master mentioned that you had formal ambassador papers from a foreign ruler that helped him bail all of you out from the Mikasa."

"Well, um, I, heehee…" the young princess giggled awkwardly and began to trace the fur along her thick blue coat as she wondered how the samurai would take the news of her status. "I…I'm from Russia! My family and I live in Petrograd."

"Russia, eh?" Kurando noted with an edge of amusement in his voice; he immediately thought of that large country currently being involved in the world war, but decided against mentioning it in case that was a fragile subject. "So, do many people in your country dress the same way as you? Judging by your coat, I'd guess that the weather there must be pretty cold."

"Yeah, it snows a lot where we live," she informed him with a confirming nod, and then blushed slightly as she looked away and revealed just a hint of information, "But… no, not a lot of people wear clothes like mine…"

"Oh, you're one of a kind then," he remarked with a partial grin, boyish charm lighting up his eyes soon afterwards that immediately threw Anastasia into a dreamy daze.

"Th-thanks!" she managed to reply after she had recovered herself once again, her cheeks flushing even more. "Your, um, outfit looks pretty neat too…"

"This?" He gestured at his own attire. "It's called a hakama, traditional wear for a typical samurai. The material used to make a hakama is pretty lightweight and thin, so this isn't very ideal for cold weather; many people, and myself included, usually have to wear additional clothes underneath."

The attentive girl nodded in-tune with his words, all the while silently absorbing the information that he was telling her. "Is Mr. Kawashima teaching you how to become a samurai?"

"Yes, he is helping me with the training," the young swordsman replied with a slight smile. "I want to become a samurai so I can protect my mother and everyone else in my village. I am the next in line of succession, and I have to fulfill my duty."

"I think you'll do great, Kurando! You're so dedicated and everything that there's no way anything can stop you!" Anastasia piped up confidently as a grin that accentuated her usual adorable self spread over her lips, but then the moment passed and she shivered from a sudden eerie feeling that settled in over the atmosphere. "Gee, I wonder what's taking everyone so long…"

"Maybe we should go find them now," her older companion suggested, slowly rising to his feet with a serious expression. "I'd hate to be sitting by so leisurely if the others get into some kind of danger…"

"Okay, let's go then!" She quickly agreed and jumped up into a standing position, then stepped off of the robe top on the floor and gestured for Kurando to do the same before she bent down and gathered it in her hands. "Here, put your, um… hakama back on!"

He nodded and started to reach for it, but instead, the princess slipped one of the sleeves through his outstretched arm, and then moved to the opposite side to don on the other one. After she did that, she glanced at the dangling strings for a few moments and realized she had no idea how to tie them, so she just stepped back with a blush, allowing the more-experienced samurai to finish the task. Kurando quirked a brow in curiosity at her action, but he thought it was just her way of showing concern for him again, and idly went to tie the knots himself that secured the hakama top around his form. Anastasia watched him quietly, unsure of what to say, and soon started rummaging through her belongings to make sure she had everything before they set off in search of their other allies.

"Are you ready to leave, Lady Anastasia?" The teenage fusionist inquired after his attire was properly set, and had laid a tentative hand upon the hilt of his sword in early precaution.

"Y-yeah, let's go!"

The energetic girl trailed closely behind him as he led the way down the misty stone path, her deceptively-deadly egg clutched tightly in case an enemy attacked all of a suddenly. As the circle with the mysterious seal was soon left out of sight, it became a little harder to see through the thick fog, and Anastasia elicited a small gulp in nervousness as she hastened her pace. The outline of her taller companion was still visible, but the further they traveled, the more edgy she grew, and her head instantly whipped to the side when a springing boing ensued just then. Curious about its source, her steps slowed a bit as she glanced toward the direction of the strange sound, wondering what could possibly be causing a noise that was so out-of-place.

"H-hello?" She called out and timidly headed toward it, her intention to follow Kurando forgotten for the time being, all the while trying to remember if any of her other friends were carrying around something with a bouncy ringing sound. Maybe the doll of that retired puppeteer had a few loose springs inside –

Just then, practically out of nowhere, a creature jumped out from the smoky mist and smacked her in the chest, sending the young princess falling back onto the ground with a shrill scream of surprise. The monster appeared fully in her view when it came forward and emitted a strange noise, seeming to laugh at her foolishness, despite its strange own composition of a thin talisman with both a light and dark side. Although Anastasia still retained her weapon in hand, the initial shock of the sudden strike had replaced her thought of attacking, so when her opponent advanced toward her, she mutely crawled back. It was the same reaction she had when she first discovered Kurando lying comatose in the strange otherworld, and then he arose with harmful deliberation and fought against the rest of the group in his fusion form.

"Ahhh!" She cried out loudly when she finally found her voice, and then awkwardly scrambled to her feet, her hands preparing to toss her flying egg at the uncanny monster even as she screamed once more, "K-Kurando!"

"Lady Anastasia!" The princess heard the faint reply from a different area, and thinking that he was too far away to reach her in time, she threw her weapon at the bouncing creature, and the force she used did knock it back a couple feet. More alert now, she steadied herself as she slowly edged toward the opposition slowly after it bounced up to a stance, and inwardly made sure there was enough time to hit it at least twice before she made another attack. But before she could do anything, a fierce cry suddenly noised as the monster was sliced in half with a flash of silver indicating its defeat, and then drifted to the ground in two pieces. Anastasia blinked once and peered past into the fog to make out the approaching form of her samurai companion, who quickly sheathed his sword as he made his way toward her, concern evident in his eyes.

"Lady Anastasia! Are you all right?" He immediately asked upon arriving, and was instantly greeted with a lunge from the fourteen-year-old, her hands tightly clutching his arm as she buried her face into the soft material of his hakama sleeve.

"Y-yeah, but that thing almost scared me to death, jumping at me out of nowhere like that!" She somehow managed to reply in spite of being pressed directly against him, and when she realized what she just did, hastily leapt back away from him as her cheeks colored from the blatant boldness of her action. "Oh, s-sorry about that…! I-I was just so relieved to see you!"

Kurando appeared just a tad flustered, but he assured her gently, "It… it's all right, Lady Anastasia. With an environment like this where it's hard for us to see where we're going, we need to stay close together until we find the others, so it might be better if you held onto my arm…"

"R-really? O-okay, then!" Anastasia perked up at the prospect, and willingly obeyed by re-grasping a hold of his forearm, then tried to excuse her overexcitement by relaying softly, "I mean, since you don't mind…"

He shook his head, and then gave her an assuring smile. "Don't worry, Lady Anastasia. I'll keep you safe."

She nodded quickly; fully believing that he _would_ in fact protect her as much as he was could, and just made a mental note not to stray away from him again. "Well, let's go find Yuri and everyone else now!"

"All right," the young samurai agreed as he began to stroll down the pathway once more, and all the while he kept his instincts on high alert should another monster emerge to attack his partner.

As the duo traveled deeper into the magical world, Kurando silently recalled his companion's generous offer to stay by and look after him until he had recovered from the battle well enough to wander around. Although he had initially thought her to be somewhat childish, he discovered that Anastasia was rather mature for her age when the situation called for it, and he admired her determination, and even her stubbornness. The feel of her small hands trustingly holding onto his arm was somewhat… soothing, and warmth of slight bashfulness spread within his body when he realized how closely she was staying next to him. He knew that the girl usually hung onto his every word and paid close attention whenever he spoke to the others, but new to the concept of romance, he wasn't sure what to make of it, so he decided to just see what would happen as their journey continued.

One thing was for sure though – out of all the new friends that Kurando had recently made, he wanted to get to know Anastasia better first…

**The End**

**Author's Note: **And here's another Shadow Hearts II fic completed! On my favorite couple too! Yay! D When I saw Anastasia being so concerned about Kurando lying passed out on the floor, I thought that she might stay with him if he needed time to heal up. Sheesh, did Yuri really expect him to go exploring around the otherworld when he just got beaten up by everyone else in battle? Sigh… Anyway, thank you guys for reading this! I was thinking of writing more Anastasia x Kurando fics based on selective scenes from the game, so if you readers would like that, please leave a review and let me know! :)

**With love for my fans,**

**Tiger5913**


	2. Forest Of Wind

11/27/04

Disclaimer: The characters in this fic, such as Kurando, Anastasia, etc. don't belong to me; they are property of Midway, so don't sue! ;.;

Dedications: God, my friends, my cousins, my readers, Aruze for gracing this magnificent RPG with a sequel – despite the ending they chose to go off of – and finally, sudden inspiration for making me write this during periods of boredom.

Special dedication to: Leebot, for his kind support and helpful criticism; I really hope that you'll write an SH fic someday!

**Shadow Hearts II: The Princess And The Samurai**

**Part Two: ****Forest**** Of ****Wind**

**By Tiger5913**

"Joachim! My camera stand!"

The tall wrestler being commanded gave a slight nod in obedience, and set the tripod down onto the ground, but then was quickly assured aside by a petite girl holding a camera. She placed it atop the platform supported by the balance of three legs, and waved her arm at her companions, gesturing at them to distract the monster long enough for her to get a good shot. The flying creature screeched shrilly when it was being backed up against a tree by the small fighting party of a persistent, faithful white wolf, and the somewhat reluctant, unofficially-deemed leader of their group. Joachim Valentine, the blond man that had been assisting the amateur photographer earlier, now stood by her side with a long brown emcee's desk propped upon his shoulder, serving as her self-proclaimed protector.

"Hey, Anastasia, think you can speed this up a little?" Her brunette ally called out as his battle stance tensed a bit from inactivity – he was far more interested in attacking and defeating the monster than merely containing it.

"Okay, okay, I'm going as fast as I can, Yuri!" Princess Anastasia Romanov, the headstrong Russian native, hastily assured her friend as she hurriedly prepared her camera to capture a picture of the flying creature. "Blanca, keep it by that tree!"

Being one of her closer friends, the intelligent canine quickly growled in confirmation and slowly edged toward the subject, hind legs bent at a steady angle as if he was about to pounce. Yuri Hyuga sighed wearily at the girl's request, but nevertheless he nodded and joined Blanca in cornering the monster, causing it to peer at the two opponents with growing anxiety. Just as the young princess was finished setting up her camera, the object of her interest shrieked shrilly and thrust out a large fist of clenched feathers, shaking it in some sort of signal or ritual. At the sudden action, the fusionist and his ally backed away a couple of steps, and with a swift gust of wind, the bird-like creature whirled around and flew up to fully disappear into the thick branches and leaves overhead.

"Ohhh…!!" Anastasia moaned in annoyance and clamped her hands down to her hips for further emphasis of her frustration at efforts wasted in vain. "I can't believe it ran away! I just got my camera ready and everything-!"

"Ah, relax, Anastasia," Yuri sought to calm her with a slight shrug. "Forget about the stand next time, but hang onto your camera. I'm sure there're more of those bird monsters in this forest, so just be on the lookout if you want a picture that bad."

"Okay…" she hung her head for a moment, pouting in disappointment, but perked up suddenly when an idea came to her, and she asked enthusiastically, "Hey, Yuri, can I borrow your Warning Device for a little while? If I had it with me, I could probably find one of those monsters easier…"

"Sure," he agreed easily, and reached back into the waist pack hanging behind him to pull out a rectangular box with two antennas sticking up from the top. "Here it is. Hope this helps."

He placed the small instrument into her eagerly-outstretched hands, and she immediately tightened her grasp around it, grinning widely as she expressed her gratitude, "Thanks!"

"No problem," her ally replied casually, and then turned to their other friends, voicing the same question they were all wondering, "Hey, how much further until we reach this place that Kawashima told us to go to, anyway? I don't even know where Kurando's gone by now; maybe I should've told him to stick with the rest of us…"

"Well, sensei said to keep going north until we leave the forest, and the village would be just a little distance away," the redheaded woman of the group recalled sensibly, and also assured, "And Kurando wouldn't have asked to go ahead if he didn't know the way, so he should be all right. Let's keep an eye out for him as we're going along."

Yuri sighed and nodded, gesturing for the others to resume their journey through the forest, but he lingered around Anastasia in the back for a moment to remark wryly, "Huh, we probably could've been at that place by now if _someone_ didn't make us stop to take a picture…"

After making sure that her vampire friend had the tripod properly packed up and securely in his grasp, the chestnut-haired princess whirled around to face the previous speaker and fired back passionately, "Hey! I… you know I'm taking these pictures to show my parents and Alexei all of the places we've been! Maybe they won't worry so much if they got to see where we've traveled…"

Based on the messy events that had happened in Russia several months ago, everyone in their party knew how much she thought of and cared about her family back at home. "Yeah, I know, Anastasia," the twenty-four-year-old sympathized in a quieter tone, and gave her a small grin as he continued lightheartedly, "The next time we see your parents, I'll tell them that we're taking good care of you. About the pictures… heh, just don't show them all the shots you've taken of monsters; that'd probably freak your parents out."

"I definitely won't!" she agreed with an understanding nod, and then glanced down at the camera held in her hands with loving fondness in her eyes as a smile spread over her face; the Warning Device had been tucked away minutes prior. _All the pictures I'll show them will be nice and peaceful places… like the towns we've been to._

When Yuri glanced ahead just then and saw that their allies were slowing down to wait for the duo, he motioned for the teenage girl to catch up, and hastened his step, making his way to the front to lead the group. While the others all glanced around, looking for a glimpse of the village, Anastasia stayed at the back, doing her own exploration as she periodically pushed shrubbery aside with her free arm. She trailed after her allies with mild awareness, her pace slower than theirs because of the precious item that was carefully clutched to her chest, and she barely noticed that she was following behind. Suddenly, a low beeping noise rang from her pocket to steal her attention, and the princess immediately stopped to take the Warning Device out, and squealed softly in excitement, hoping that she would get a second chance at taking a picture of the bird monster.

Before she got carried away by her excitement, Anastasia peered at her friends to mentally note the distance, figuring that it wouldn't take too long for her to accomplish the goal. That in mind, she then focused on the noisy instrument in her hand and turned in random directions until the beeping got slightly louder, and she willingly began to head down the invisible pathway. The princess kept her eyes on her surroundings as the Warning Device continued to alert her of a nearby monster's presence, and when she caught sight of movement, she clicked a button to shut off the sound. She proceeded toward the rustling leaves, and when she heard a low groan coming from the same area of her destination, she hesitated momentarily, wondering if a traveler was being attacked by a monster.

_Let's see, I've got my Crests equipped, and my monster pictures are with them… but I can't use my egg to attack when I'm holding my camera,_ she thought to herself, and stole a glance at her other pocket, which held the aforementioned weapon inside._ Oh well, my magic spells should be enough to drive a monster away._

Strategy in mind, she carefully jogged for a short distance, and as she approached the spot, she quietly pealed back the shrubs and slowly stuck her head forward to witness the scenario. A pleased grin graced her lips when she spotted the monster that she'd been looking for, hovering a few feet away with its back facing her, and so the brunette quickly adjusted into a comfortable position. She planned to take a picture of the bird creature, which had a chance of possibly distracting it with her camera's flash, and then while its attention was averted, the person being attacked could get away. Anastasia crouched down to her knees and brought the viewfinder up to her eyes, ready to take a picture, but she needed to make enough noise for the creature to turn around and notice her.

After quickly checking her equipment, the girl poised herself, holding one finger over the shutter button as she called out sassily, "Hey, bird-man! Now look this way!"

It turned around to locate the source of the outcry, and she temporarily stunned it with the flash of her shot, which caused the monster to shriek and falter slightly, conveniently moving aside to let her see the victim. Her bright green eyes widened in surprise and her hold on the camera wavered when she identified the attacked party as the young swordsman who had gone on ahead of their group to find the village. Kurando Inugami appeared grateful for the mysterious distraction and stepped back, his dark eyes carefully watching the foe before he raised his weapon and lunged forward, swiping the bird creature with several fierce strikes. His last hit made the adversary slam headfirst into a tree trunk with considerable force, and after suffering such a powerful blow, it slumped to the ground, still alive, but knocked out for the time being.

"Whew…" the winner of the battle breathed in relief as he straightened back up to his usual stance and slowly walked toward the fallen monster, his sword not yet sheathed just in case it suddenly woke up and attacked him again. He was also heading in that direction because he was curious about his surprise benefactor, but knew at the very least that it wasn't Blanca who had came to aid him this time, since the speaker had a feminine voice… A flash of blue material caught his eye when Kurando got closer to the shrouded bushes, and he quickly peered forward to see a familiar slender-framed girl clutching a camera in her hands, with a small grin on her face. He glanced over her shoulder to see if their other allies were present, and when he realized that she was alone, he wondered why Anastasia was wandering around by herself; it wasn't very safe for to travel through the Forest of Wind solo…

"L-Lady Anastasia," he greeted with mild shock in his tone.

"Kurando! Hi!" She returned warmly, her bright jade eyes twinkling in unabashed happiness as she rose to her feet and hugged the camera to her chest, a rare sign of timidity from her.

The samurai gave her a partial smile to show his approval and replied with, "Hi, it's… it's nice to meet up with you, but… where are the others? Did something happen to them?"

"Oh!" Anastasia suddenly remembered that she had left her friends in search of the bird-like monster, and she glanced around, trying to remember which direction she had arrived from. "No, they're okay! Um, they're over on the main path, still looking for the village… I just kinda wandered off, that's all, heehee… Hey, we were all wondering where you went."

"I was heading toward there myself," he told her. "I know which path to take to get there, and the village isn't that far from this forest, but I got a little sidetracked when I was suddenly attacked by the monster. It's kind of strange… I didn't expect such hostile action from that creature."

"Hostile? Did you get hurt?" The concerned princess inquired as she immediately glanced over him, quickly noticing that there was a small tear at the bottom of his sleeve, and the open folds exposed a thin, but seemingly-long scratch on his arm. "Oh, you did! Here, let me heal that for you…!"

He looked down at the aforementioned injury, whose existence he wouldn't have realized for some time if she hadn't spotted it so soon. "This? Ah, it's nothing serious. You needn't worry about it, Lady Anastasia."

"Let's see… I think I have the Marax Crest on me," she mused softly, talking to herself as she set the camera down and closed her eyes in preparation for the casting – apparently, she hadn't heard his humble protest. "This should be a pretty strong spell, but I'll try it! Cure Plus!"

At her summon, a cool sensation seeped in throughout his form, soothing the mild ache of his forearm, and with such a pleasurable feeling calming down his nerves and post-battle adrenaline, a small sigh of contentment escaped from him. His own eyes closed for a moment, but he reopened them to see his companion standing in her normal position once again, camera back in hand as she watched him eagerly, wondering if he had healed. Within a few minutes, the only evidence left of his wound was a tiny scar, and Anastasia grinned, a little surprised, but glad that the spell had taken effect so quickly; well, then again, it _was_ an upgrade of the regular Cure. Meanwhile, Kurando found her concern just a tad overwhelming, but overall, he was grateful – not only for the curing spell, but also for her assistance in his fight against the bird monster – and so he smiled at her to indicate his appreciation.

"Y-you're okay now?" The young mage asked, blushing slightly at his gesture; he rarely expressed it around the others, but when he was with just her, he seemed to show a little more emotion than usual…

"Yes, thank you," he assured her gently, and then after a quick glance at the unconscious monster, he finally felt secure enough to sheathe his sword. "And also, you have my gratitude for helping me with that battle against the Tengu."

"Oh, i-it's no problem! You're welcome! I was happy to help you beat that… Ten-gu?" She repeated questioningly with a light click of her tongue. "Is that what those bird monsters are called?"

He nodded. "They can be pretty fierce in a one-on-one battle. I don't encounter them very often, since they're pretty timid creatures, and even when I do, they usually run away. I'm really surprised that this one decided to attack me."

"Aw, I bet it won't try that again!" Anastasia praised passionately, and she giggled a bit as she recalled, "Heehee, we ran across one earlier, but it ran away before I could take a picture. I'm glad I got it this time!"

"That's good," the dark-haired samurai agreed, and then he glanced around the setting, noticing how vast the forest seemed when it was surrounding just the two of them. He thought of their other allies, and suggested aloud, "Well, do you think we should go look for everyone else now, Lady Anastasia? I wonder if they got lost…"

_Just how far is this village, anyway? _"Y-yeah, let's find them!" she agreed quickly and tightened her grip on her precious camera as she followed her companion; together, they weaved through the bushes and other miscellaneous forestry for a short while until the pair was back on a plain dirt path. The princess didn't recognize the setting, with the surrounding trees blocking her view when she tried to look around, but nevertheless, she trusted that her 'guide' knew where he was going. Anastasia doggedly trailed after the Japanese native as they continued along, but her attention kept getting diverted by the background scenery peeking at her through the branches and leaves, promising a glamorous portrait of nature's art. A tall mountain loomed in the distance, and its enigma captured her gaze, entrancing the girl until she bumped into Kurando, who had stopped at the fork in their current path, and was glancing to the right with curious eyes.

"They could have branched off to the cliff area, I suppose…" the young swordsman mused quietly to himself, and deciding to check just in case, he started down the path that would lead to the aforementioned area.

"Um, Kurando?" The stationed fourteen-year-old inquired timidly, after she had glanced ahead of the main path and glimpsed a sight of telltale housing, so she automatically guessed that it was the village their party had been looking for all along. Still, she didn't want to wander away from Kurando, and settled for asking him, "Where're you going? Is the village that way?"

"No," he shook his head slightly as he kept walking forward, "but… maybe the others went down this way. If they're not there, then I honestly don't know where else they could've gone… this forest isn't _that_ big."

Anastasia sighed and shook her head slightly in exasperation at the thought; if the guess was true, how in the world did Yuri and the others _really_ get lost in such a small forest with easy and straightforward paths? While her companion was further distancing himself from her position, she stayed at the fork in the path, and when his lithe form had began to be shrouded by forestry, the princess decided to do a little searching of her own. But instead of physical traveling, she used the power of her voice; "Yuri! Blanca!! Are you guys even still in this forest?!"

"Awroo!!" came the fast response somewhere off in the distance – apparently, the intelligent wolf had heard her with his keen senses – and then a familiar voice called out shortly after, "Hey, Anastasia! Is that you over there?"

Recognizing the speaker as the leader of their group, she instantly snapped to attention and took a few steps forward, heading away from junction as she shielded her eyes to look ahead before shouting in reply, "Yuri! Where are you?!"

Her loud summon received nothing verbal, but after a few minutes of noisy shuffling and leaf-crunching, her friends soon arrived to the setting and the reunited team regarded each other with curious glances.

"Where the heck did you go, Anastasia?" Yuri questioned immediately, breaking the silence first, and his dark eyes briefly flickered with concern before it faded to show annoyance. "We went all the way back to the entrance, looking for you!"

"Ah, I, um, hehe…" the princess blushed at the reminder of her bold, albeit selfish action and ducked her head, while tucking her hands behind her back in a show of apologetic innocence. "Sorry, Yuri; I was following the Warning Device… it started beeping, so I went to find the monster it was picking up… But, but I got a picture of the bird monster!"

"Heh, I figured as much. Well, that's good for you, and I don't really mind, as long as you're okay," the experienced fusionist commented with a wry half-grin, and then when he glanced around for a bit, he remembered the last member of their group and asked, "Hey, while you were away chasing the monster, did you happen to run into Kurando by any chance? We haven't seen him since we first came into this forest, and we're kinda getting worried…"

"Oh, Kurando! Yeah, I did!" Anastasia confirmed, nodding enthusiastically at the pleasant reminder. "He was here at this fork a few minutes ago, but he went off to the side path to see if you guys were there…"

"Ah, geez, why does everyone keep wandering off?" He questioned a bit rhetorically while throwing up his hands in over-exaggeration, and then turned around to address the rest of the party, "All right, you guys, we're gonna go get Kurando, then we'll keep looking for the village. But make sure you all stay with me! Please, no more little side trips, okay?"

The last comment was directed at the princess, who knew full well, and so she pouted in response, but the others nodded and waited for their leader to start off before they obediently followed in suit. They all knew that Yuri was usually very easy-going and let his allies do pretty much whatever they wanted, but when the situation got complicated or a problem was present, he would quickly switch into an authoritative mode. With him and the slender teenage girl up at the front, the group walked down the side path that Kurando had taken earlier, while Anastasia kept a critical eye on the housing ahead, still wondering if that was the village. Halfway through, the friends suddenly bumped into the young swordsman, apparently on his way back to the junction, and surprised him; in response, his hand immediately went to the hilt of the sword sheathed next to his waist.

"Whoa, take it easy there, Kurando," Yuri protested when he caught a glint of silver from the long, thin blade, and he instinctively raised both arms to shield his companions. "Hey, you can put that away. It's just us!"

"Yuri, Lady Anastasia… everyone," he realized with a start, and quickly left the vicinity of his weapon, then bowed a humble apology. "I'm sorry for reacting so rashly. I thought I had run into another monster…"

"Okay, that's it; we're getting out of this forest right now. It's making everyone paranoid," the leader decided after casting a weary glance at the samurai; Kurando was usually very calm and controlled, so his somewhat-aggressive reaction meant that there was something bad in the air. "Now, where the hell is that village Kawashima wanted us to go to?"

"Kurando knows how to get there!" The Russian girl piped up right after he finished speaking, and then she crossed over to stand next to the younger fusionist and took a hold of his hand to get his attention, which made him straighten into his normal posture. "Come on, Kurando! Show us the way!"

She lifted her chin and gazed at him adoringly; the seventeen-year-old flushed slightly, much to the amusement of his other companions, but he nodded and allowed himself to be dragged back to the main path. Once there, Kurando started to lead everyone forward to the village, but one of the party members glanced off at the unexplored section and let curiosity get the better of her, so she took a few steps down the side path. Once she got a good look at the setting, she gasped in surprise, recognizing it as a place she'd seen several months ago after venturing through a memory of Yuri's to help him regain his Amon fusion form. The red-haired woman slowed to a stop, and once the leader of the group noticed, he also came to a halt, not wanting to lose anymore of his friends due to their new bad habit of random wandering.

"Yuri, this is… just like the place from before…" she murmured softly in wonder.

Yuri stepped up next to her and glanced around questioningly; he grinned a bit when he realized that it _was_ indeed the same peaceful place he'd enjoyed being in a few years back, so he kept a mental picture in his mind. "Yeah… it's from my earliest memories as a child."

By this time, the others had realized that the two were absent from their group, and Kurando stopped in his tracks, turning around to inquire, "What are you two talking about?"

"Huh? Ah, it's nothing," the brown-haired fusionist answered with a slight shrug, "Let's keep going."

But his temporary pause caused Anastasia to release her partner's hand and take a moment to marvel at the surroundings, especially the mountain she'd noticed earlier, and after her eyes thoroughly roamed its magnificent view, she sighed dreamily. "Wow… what a beautiful mountain!"

The young swordsman walked up beside her and nodded in approval when he saw the sight, informing her knowledgably, "Mount Katsuragi. It's considered a holy mountain."

She whirled around to face him in amazement. "A holy mountain?"

He smiled slightly at her astonished look, and continued telling her, "Legends say that a god lives here."

"Really?" The princess turned back to gaze at the mountain again with wonder in her bright green irises. "Wow…"

"Well, as great as the view is, I think we should get to that village soon," Yuri chided as mildly as he could, and then he looked around, "I have a feeling someone's waiting for us there."

"Okay, okay…" Anastasia relented, and took her companion's hand once again as everyone began to resume walking.

Usually the first one to detect an unsettling feeling in the environment, Blanca paused briefly to lift his nose and sniff the air, which the chestnut-haired girl noticed immediately and bent over slightly to give him a curious look.

"What is it, Blanca?" She asked curiously.

"Awroo, awroo. Grrr… (Be careful. Something's strange…)" he growled in reply, answering in his special wolf language that only his closest companions could understand.

At the current time, the princess hadn't learned how to decipher his unique speech yet, so she didn't get the meaning of his message and instead mimicked him playfully, "Grrr…"

She missed hearing the faint ring of a bell that sounded just then, but Kurando hadn't; he raised an arm protectively to stop the young female from proceeding forward, and then he wondered out loud, "Was that a bell…?"

The noise rang again, and made everyone look around – trying to find the source – and when it sounded once more, the retired puppeteer in their group touched his chin in pondering as he mused quietly, "Did ya feel that? The wind stopped."

Suddenly, the earth beneath their feet began to shake, and one by one, the friends were all sucked into an invisible hole, barely able to let out a scream or yelp of surprise as they sank down below the ground. Everyone went down together, but could only hear each other's shouts due to the overwhelming shadows that blanketed over the entire area, purposely blinding their sight, preventing them from seeing where they were going. Because of their close proximity, Anastasia had fallen together with Kurando, and she immediately latched onto his waist for comfort while squeezing her eyes shut in fright as the two plummeted through supernatural darkness. As they descended into an unforeseen trap, the samurai returned the hold to his companion, and firmly wrapped his arms around her back, assuring that he wouldn't let her go without the certainty of her safety.

Despite the rather long journey downward into nowhere, Kurando was inwardly insistent on protecting the girl in his arms, vowing to make sure that no harm came to her in the new, mysterious place that everyone was being sent to…

**The End**

**Author's Note:** Yay, finally finished this! XD Hehe, the cut scene in the Forest of Wind was one of my favorites, especially the part when Anastasia was growling at Blanca. She looked so cute! :D Hah, I can't wait until the next part of this series: Inugami Village, and the scene in which Anastasia embarrasses herself! Ahh, what a fond and very funny memory… Well, I'll save that for next time. XP Thanks for reading this fic, all you lovely people out there. But before you hit the Review button just yet, I need to ask for a little bit of help from you, my dears.

I have quite a few SH:C story ideas to work with right now, so I ask of all you readers to please vote on what fic you'd like to see next. The list is as follows:

Sequel to Summer Rain

Sequel to Missing The Family

Continuation of Devil Loincloth

Karin x Nicolai fic

Part Three of The Princess And The Samurai series

Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts! Thanks a bunch in advance, and see you next fic! )

**With love for my fans,**

**Tiger5913**


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